A Sundance, Wyoming, Schoolhouse Now Holds a County Museum
For decades, the primary occupants of Old Stoney—a former schoolhouse in Sundance, Wyoming—were bats. So much guano filled the attic that when local preservationists were raising funds to restore the building, they turned to harvesting and selling the dung as a natural fertilizer.
Built with local stone in 1923 in the shadow of Sundance Mountain, just about 30 miles from the famous Devils Tower, Old Stoney served as a public school for half a century. Following years of vacancy, disrepair, and a rescue by a local nonprofit, the Crook County Museum District acquired the building in 2009 and began a long effort to fund its restoration. Fully completed in June, the structure houses the museum, as well as office and community event space.
“The museum foundation and museum district hit every rodeo, every parade, every homemaker gathering, anything that people were going to, passing out flyers about saving Old Stoney,” says Rocky Courchaine, the museum’s director. “And it worked.”
photo by: Ben Winckler
The Wyoming Business Council and other organizations helped raise funds to rehabilitate Old Stoney, a former schoolhouse now used as a museum, offices, and event space.
City officials contracted with Stateline No. 7 Architects out of Casper, Wyoming, to lead the $5 million–plus restoration. Work included excavating the sub-basement to accommodate new mechanical systems, installing historically accurate windows with UV-resistant glazing, and, yes, shoring up the attic against bat intrusion.
The exterior received special attention. “The stone was in good shape, but the joints had been overlaid with a modern, surface rope joint [dating to the 1950s],” says Lyle Murtha, principal architect with Stateline No. 7. The team replaced the material with mortar that matched the original construction, Murtha adds. “[The replacement mortar] had to be hand-tooled—no pneumatic tools could be used to take the old mortar out and put in the new stuff.”
A public square adjacent to the building opened in 2021, but Old Stoney is the star attraction. “People want to look at the [historic] hardware and the floors,” says Amy Goodson, executive director of the Crook County Museum District. “It’s a museum in a museum.”
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